Global Parameters
Core system-wide settings that control how Papyrus Cloud behaves across all modules
Global Parameters is the central configuration screen for your library. It controls your library's identity, how numbers are generated for BRNs, accession numbers, barcodes and members, default publication and member types, OPAC search behaviour, circulation rules, and payment settings. These settings affect the entire system — review them carefully before going live and after any significant change to your library's operations.
Administrator access required. Global Parameters should only be modified by the library administrator. Changes here affect every user, every catalogue record, and every circulation transaction across the library. Always click Save after making changes — unsaved changes are lost when you navigate away.
The Global Parameters screen is organised into four tabs. Click each tab heading to switch between them.
Registration
Parameters
Circulation Defaults
Payment Parameters – Beta
Registration Tab
The Registration tab contains your library's identity and all the number-generation settings that drive the system. It is divided into five sub-sections.
Library Details
These fields identify your library within Papyrus Cloud and appear on reports, emails, and the OPAC.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Library ID | A unique system-generated identifier for your library database. This is assigned automatically by Papyrus Cloud and cannot be changed. You may need to quote this when contacting support — for example: 5eb8345f-b281-490b-976b-5aab5df4e2cb |
| Library Name | The full name of your library as it appears throughout the system, on reports, and in emails sent to members. Example: My Papyrus Cloud Library |
| Registered Email Address | The primary email address for the library account. Used for system notifications and licence communications from Papyrus Cloud. |
| Librarian | The name of the head librarian or primary contact. Appears on correspondence and reports. |
| Library Logo | Upload a JPG, JPEG, or PNG image to display as the library logo. Drag and drop a file onto the upload area, or click to browse. The logo appears in the header of the Papyrus Cloud interface and on printed documents. |
| Address Line 1 | The physical street address of the library. Used on printed reports and correspondence. |
| Country Code | Select the country and locale for your library from the drop-down list. This setting controls date formats, currency symbols, and language defaults throughout the system. For South African libraries, select English (South Africa). |
Cataloguing Parameters
These fields control the automatic numbering of bibliographic and authority records.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Next BRN | The next Bibliographic Reference Number to be assigned when a new catalogue record is created. Papyrus automatically increments this after each new BRN is allocated. Typically starts at 10000000. Do not change this unless you are migrating data from another system. |
| Next ARN | The next Authority Reference Number to be assigned when a new authority record (author, subject, series, or publisher) is created. Papyrus manages this automatically. |
BRNs and ARNs are assigned sequentially and automatically. You should only need to adjust these values when performing a bulk data import from another library system, to ensure the new numbers do not clash with existing records.
Stock Parameters
These fields control how accession numbers and barcodes are generated and formatted for physical stock items.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Next Accession Number | The next accession number to be auto-generated when staff click the Generate button in EasyCAT. Papyrus increments this automatically after each allocation. Set this to match your library's existing accession sequence if migrating from another system. |
| AccNo Length | The fixed length of auto-generated accession numbers. Papyrus will pad numbers with leading zeros to reach this length. For example, a length of 8 would format number 781 as 00000781. |
| Accession Number is Barcode | When ticked, the barcode of each new stock item is automatically set to the same value as its accession number. Untick this if your library uses separate, shorter barcode numbers on physical labels. |
| Next Barcode Number | The next barcode number to be auto-generated. Only relevant when Accession Number is Barcode is unticked and barcodes are generated separately from accession numbers. |
| Barcode Prefix | An optional text prefix prepended to all auto-generated barcode numbers. For example, a prefix of LIB with number 10045 would produce LIB10045. Leave blank if no prefix is required. |
| Barcode Length | The total length of the barcode including any prefix. Must equal the prefix length plus the number of digits in the barcode number. Keep barcodes short — long numbers produce wide printed labels that may not fit inside a book cover. |
| Print Barcode on Reminders | When ticked, barcode numbers are included on overdue reminder notices sent to members. This allows members to quote the barcode when querying their account. |
A common setup for school libraries is to use the format yyyy/nnnn for accession numbers (e.g. 2024/0034) and a separate short numeric barcode starting from 10000. Set Accession Number is Barcode to unticked, configure the Next Barcode Number, and leave the Barcode Prefix blank.
Member Parameters
These fields control the automatic numbering of member and receipt records.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Next Member Number | The next member number to be assigned when staff click Next Member on the new member form. Papyrus increments this after each allocation. Set this to match your existing member numbering sequence if migrating data. |
| Next Receipt Number | The next sequential number to be assigned to payment receipts when fines or membership fees are collected. Papyrus increments this automatically after each receipt is issued. |
Default Parameter Types
These settings determine which publication type and member type are pre-selected by default when creating new catalogue records and new member records.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Default Publication Type | The publication type pre-selected in EasyCAT and other cataloguing screens when creating a new bibliographic record. Staff can change this per record. Set it to your most commonly catalogued type — for example Fiction or Non Fiction — to save time during cataloguing. |
| Default Member Type | The member type pre-selected when creating a new library member. Staff can change this per member. Set it to the most common member type in your library — for example Grade 1 or Students. |
Publication Types and Member Types are defined under Parameters → Publication Types and Parameters → Member Types respectively. You must create these before they will appear in the drop-down lists here.
OPAC Parameters
These settings control how the Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) searches and displays results to members and staff.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Articles | A list of articles (e.g. The, A, An) that are automatically stripped from the beginning of a title when sorting and searching. This ensures that "The Great Gatsby" is sorted and found under G rather than T. Enter each article separated by a comma. |
| Common Terms | A list of common words (stop words) that are excluded from keyword searches to improve result relevance. Words like and, of, the, in are typical entries. Searching for these words alone will return no results. |
| Items | The maximum number of search results displayed per page in the OPAC. A value between 10 and 25 is typical. Higher numbers may slow down the display on slower connections. |
| Days | The number of days used to define "new arrivals" in the OPAC. Books catalogued within this number of days will be highlighted or listed as new in the OPAC display. |
| Days Grace | The number of grace days allowed after a loan's due date before a fine begins to accrue. A value of 0 means fines start the day after the due date. A value of 1 or more gives members a short buffer period. |
| Fine every Days | The frequency at which overdue fines accumulate. A value of 1 means a fine is charged for each calendar day overdue. A value of 7 means a fine is charged once per week overdue. |
| Merchant ID | The merchant identifier issued by your payment gateway provider. Used for online fine and fee payments. Only required if the Payment Parameters (Beta) feature is enabled. |
| Merchant Key | The secret key issued by your payment gateway provider. Used to authenticate payment requests. Keep this value confidential — treat it like a password. |
Parameters Tab
The Parameters tab contains additional system-wide behavioural settings that control how Papyrus Cloud operates across cataloguing, circulation, and member management. These include options such as whether to enforce unique barcodes across locations, how to handle deleted records, and various display preferences.
The specific fields on this tab vary depending on your licence type and enabled features. Contact support@papyruscloud.org if you need guidance on any setting shown on this tab that is not described here.
Circulation Defaults Tab
The Circulation Defaults tab sets the fallback loan rules used when no specific privilege rule has been configured for a member type and publication type combination. These defaults ensure that circulation always works even when detailed privilege rules have not yet been set up.
Detailed circulation rules — including loan periods, number of items allowed, and fine rates per member type and publication type — are configured under Parameters → Member Parameters → Privileges and Parameters → Publication Parameters → Privileges. The Circulation Defaults here act as a safety net when no matching privilege rule exists.
How defaults are applied
If a member of type Grade 5 tries to borrow a DVD and no privilege rule exists for that combination, Papyrus falls back to the Circulation Defaults set here. This prevents the system from refusing the transaction due to a missing configuration.
Payment Parameters Tab — Beta
The Payment Parameters tab configures online payment integration, allowing members to pay overdue fines and membership fees through the OPAC without visiting the library in person. This feature is currently in Beta.
Beta feature. Payment Parameters is an early-access feature. It requires a payment gateway account and integration credentials (Merchant ID and Merchant Key). Contact support@papyruscloud.org before enabling this feature to ensure it is correctly configured for your institution.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Merchant ID | The unique identifier for your library's merchant account with the payment gateway provider. Obtained when you register for the payment service. |
| Merchant Key | The secret authentication key for your merchant account. This must be kept confidential. Do not share it or include it in any correspondence. Treat it as you would a password. |
Saving Your Changes
After making any changes on the Global Parameters screen, click the Save button at the bottom of the active tab. Changes are saved per tab — switching tabs without saving will discard any unsaved changes on the current tab.
Navigating away from the Global Parameters screen without clicking Save will discard all changes made during that session. There is no auto-save on this screen.
After saving changes to number sequences (Next BRN, Next Accession Number, Next Member Number), verify the new sequence is working correctly by creating a test record and confirming the number assigned matches your expectations before going live.